Description

There are eight virtues of Bushido, the code of the samurai: justice, courage, benevolence, politeness, sincerity, honor, loyalty, and self-control. These virtues comprise the essence of Japanese cultural beliefs, which are still present today.

Inazo Nitobe, one of Japan's most respected scholars, explores the ethical code of the samurai and contextualizes it within Japan's traditions of Buddhism, Shintoism, and Confucianism. He then compares and contrasts Eastern values with those present in Western societies. Written in English and first published in 1905, this classic introduction to Japan's samurai culture has been a best-seller for decades. Focus on Asian Studies says it is "a must for an understanding of the soul of Japan."

About the author

Inazo Nitobe (1862–1933) was born in Japan and began studying English when he was nine years old. He attended colleges in Japan, the United States, and in Germany—where he earned five doctorate degrees. Nitobe was an educator, a cultural ambassador, and one of the best-known Japanese writers of his time.

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Similar

Few books have continued their bestselling status centuries after their author's death.

Like other classics, such as the Gospels of Jesus, and Lao Tze's Tao Te Chung, there is much discussion of who actually wrote them and how.

What is important is how such books are used. Because only extremely useful books continue in demand at bookstores, especially over generations.

Wikipedia notes: The Art of War has been applied to many fields well outside of the military. Much of the text is about how to fight wars without actually having to do battle: it gives tips on how to outsmart one's opponent so that physical battle is not necessary. As such, it has found application as a training guide for many competitive endeavors that do not involve actual combat.

There are business books applying its lessons to office politics and corporate strategy. Many Japanese companies make the book required reading for their key executives.

The book is also popular among Western business management, who have turned to it for inspiration and advice on how to succeed in competitive business situations. It has also been applied to the field of education. The Art of War has been the subject of law books and legal articles on the trial process, including negotiation tactics and trial strategy.

This book is entitled A Samurai Master Class, as two additional classics, “The Book of Five Rings” and “Bushido, the Soul of Japan” have been included. No study of this period would be complete without understanding the strategies, tactics, and ethics of the Samurai.

All of us have our journey to follow. For some, we could use this persona to make our decisions more wisely, to resolve conflicts as we move though life. In this, the Art of War can become the Way of Peace. In any day and age, having an ethical code to live by, while also utilizing a strategy and tactics tool-set which has been proved over centuries of application – these seem to point out a road many can travel on their own.

This is presented as the old Japanese proverb told, “There are many paths up the mountain.”

Presented here in one volume are three of the seminal texts relating to the Japanese 'Way of the Samurai', essential reading for anyone interested in the Samurai culture of Japan.

'Go Rin No Sho', or 'The Book of Five Rings' is a famous text written by the swordsman Miyamoto Musashi in 1645, concerning Martial Arts, in particular Kenjitsu and the art of Zen.Miyamoto Musashi uses language that is as sharp and decisive as his sword - delivering in unfaltering steps the most direct path towards the objective - to cut down your opponent and emerge unscathed and victorious.

'Hagakure' provides a peerless view into the mindset and morality of the Japanese Samurai. Written by the Samurai Yamamoto Tsunetomo in the early 18th Century, the text illustrates the concept of 'Bushido'.

'Bushido' translates literally as 'the way of the warrior', and is the Japanese word used to describe the ancient code of the Samurai. It is a complex and chivalric code of behavior that prizes loyalty and honor above all, but also champions the qualities of dedication, frugality, and mastery of martial arts.

Fundamental to 'the Way of the Warrior', is the concept of a 'good death'. Tsunetomo urges his Samurai readers to assume themselves already dead, to completely remove the fear of death, giving them the freedom to act rapidly and decisively, regardless of whether the actions might result in their own demise.

The three books in this volume have been beautifully arranged with an interactive table of contents for ease of navigation.

ContentsJapanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki (1908)Bushido, the Soul of Japan by Inazo Nitobe (1900)The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura (1906)Tales of Old Japan by Baron Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford Redesdale (1910)The Religion of the Samurai by Kaiten Nukariya (1913)Japanese Fairy Tales by Grace James (1923)Japanese Fairy World by William Elliot Griffis (1887)In Ghostly Japan by Lafcadio Hearn (1899)

Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki (1908)These stories are not literal translations, and though the Japanese story and all quaint Japanese expressions have been faithfully preserved, they have been told more with the view to interest young readers of the West than the technical student of folk-lore.

Bushido, the Soul of Japan by Inazo Nitobe (1900)An Exposition of Japanese Thought.

Japanese Fairy Tales by Grace James (1923)Contains stories like The Flute, Green Willow and many more.

Japanese Fairy World by William Elliot Griffis (1887)The thirty-four stories included within this volume do not illustrate the bloody, revengeful or licentious elements, with which Japanese popular, and juvenile literature is saturated. These have been carefully avoided. It is also rather with a view to the artistic, than to the literary, products of the imagination of Japan, that the selection has been made.

This volume collects together essays and lectures given by the author from 1922-1927 to a variety of international audiences. Together they illuminate essential aspects of the Japanese mentality and way of life, particularly in social, religious and linguistic aspects.

Over the decades the reputation of the samurai has grown to mythical proportions, owing to such films as Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai and Yojimbo as well as works such as James Clavell's epic Shogun. In Legends of the Samurai, Hiroaki Sato confronts both the history and the legend of the samurai, untangling the two to present an authentic picture of these legendary warriors.

Through his masterful translations of original samurai tales, laws, dicta, reports, and arguments accompanied by insightful commentary, Sato chronicles the changing ethos of the Japanese warrior from the samurai's historical origins to his rise to political power.

A fascinating look at Japanese history as seen through the evolution of the samurai, Legends of the Samurai stands as the ultimate authority on its subject.

Code of the Samurai is a four-hundred-year-old explication of the rules and expectations embodied in Bushido, the Japanese Way of the Warrior. Bushido has played a major role in shaping the behavior of modern Japanese government, corporations, society, and individuals, as well as in shaping modern Japanese martial arts within Japan and internationally. The Japanese original of this book, Bushido Shoshinshu, (Bushido for Beginners), has been one of the primary sources on the tenets of Bushido, a way of thought that remains fascinating and relevant to the modern world, East and West. This handbook, written after five hundred years of military rule in Japan, was composed to provide practical and moral instruction for warriors, correcting wayward tendancies and outlining the personal, social, and professional standards of conduct characteristic of Bushido, the Japanese chivalric tradition.

With a clear, conversational narrative by Thomas Cleary, one of the foremost translators of the wisdom of Asia, and powerfully evocative line drawings by master illustrator Oscar Ratti, this book is indispensable to the corporate executive, student of the Asian Culture, martial artist, those interested in Eastern philosophy or military strategy, as well as for those simply interested in Japan and its people.

Secrets of the Samurai is the definitive study of the martial arts of feudal Japan, explaining in detail the weapons, techniques, strategies, and principles of combat that made the Japanese warrior a formidable foe. Beginning with a panoramic survey of the tumultuous early struggles of warlords contending for political ascendancy, the work outlines the relentless progression of the military class toward absolute power. In addition to illustrating actual methods of combat, the authors discuss in detail the crucial training necessary to develop a warrior's inner power and to concentrate all his energies into a single force.

Secrets of the Samurai is an essential text for anyone with an interest in Japanese combat techniques, weaponry, or military history. This edition also contains a new foreword by Adele Westbrook and numerous previously unpublished illustrations by Oscar Ratti.

Journey to the Heart of Aikido presents the teachings of Motomichi Anno Sensei, one of the few remaining direct students of Morihei Ueshiba, the legendary founder of Aikido. After a lifetime of practice and teaching in Japan, the United States, and Europe, Anno Sensei conveys through his teachings Aikido's essential spirit of love, harmony, gratitude, and purification with simple authenticity and eloquence. Author and translator Linda Holiday--herself a senior instructor of Aikido--brings to life the intimacy of this communication through translated discourses on the deep practice of Aikido and candid dialogues between Anno sensei and Western students.

Journey to the Heart of Aikido includes Linda Holiday's vivid account of her adventure as a young woman studying Aikido in the mystical region of Kumano, Japan, in the 1970s, and a poignant telling of Anno sensei's life and his first-hand experience of training with Aikido's founder. An essential resource for the global Aikido community, Journey to the Heart of Aikido also offers spiritual teachings relevant to all contemporary seekers, touching a wide range of themes such as the meaning of martial arts, the integration of body and spirit, the truth of interconnectedness, and the practice of peace, offering all readers insight into the profound spiritual questions at the heart of life.

In Soul of the Samurai respected author and translator Thomas Cleary reveals the true essence of Bushido or Zen warrior teachings according to 17th-century Japanese sword master Yagyu Munenori and his Zen teacher Takuan Soho.

This book contains the first English translations of their seminal writings on Bushido. Cleary not only provides clear and readable translations but comprehensive notes introducing the social, political, and organizational principles that defined Samurai culture—their loyalty to family, their sense of service and duty, and their political strategies for dealing with allies and enemies.

These writings introduce the reader to the authentic world of Zen culture and the secrets behind the Samurai's success—being "in the moment" and freeing the mind from all distractions, allowing you to react instantaneously and instinctively without thinking. In these classic works we learn that Zen mental control and meditational training were as important to the Samurai as swordsmanship and fighting skills.

The three works of Zen Bushido translated in Soul of the Samurai are:The Book of the Sword by Yagyu Munenori, The Inscrutable Subtlety of Immovable Wisdom by Takuan Soho, and The Peerless Sword by Takuan Soho.

For centuries, "The Book of Five Rings" has been a resource for gaining insight into the mind of the warrior spirit.

The famous Samurai, Miyamoto Musashi, originally wrote the work in 1645. Musashi, the Sword Saint, as he is known in Japan, killed his first man in a duel when he was only thirteen. He went on to fight in over sixty duels and never once lost.

In "The Book of Five Rings," Musashi recorded his secrets to success which are applicable to martial arts and any modern situation involving confrontation. Until "The Book of Five Rings," the many translations of his original work are written from an academic standpoint because the authors have little with the sword or martial arts.

D.E. Tarver brings a lifetime of experience in sword training, martial arts and business to this version, and the result is a highly motivating and easy to understand book. If you are serious about winning in any area of your life, "The Book of Five Rings" is the definitive guide to victory.

"The Samurai Series" brings together three of the most important books that deal with the Samurai path and philosophy into one volume. It contains: "The Book of Five Rings" which was written by Miyamoto Musashi, a Samurai of legendary renown, about 1645 AD. It is a masterpiece of simple exposition written by a master swordsman, who, near the end of his spectacular life, tried earnestly to explain the essentials of individual combat and the essence of being a Samurai. His book is widely considered to a cornerstone of the philosophy of Bushido. "Hagakure - The Way of the Samurai," which means: "Hidden by Leaves," that was composed from dialogs by the famous Samurai, Yamamoto Tsunetomo, by a scribe, Tashiro Tsuramoto, about 1716 AD. It explains the major ideas and philosophy that are essential to the "way of the Samurai," by which is meant the "way of dying." It contains numerous tales of various Samurai and their deeds which illustrate their philosophy and practice. "Bushido - The Soul of Japan" by Inazo Nitobe which was first published 1899. It is an extremely literate presentation by a Japanese intellectual who wished to present Japan and its fundamental philosophy in a way that could be understood by Westerners. It describes how the Shinto religion and Buddhism are the underpinnings of the essentially militaristic view of honor and life that are inherent in Bushido, the Samurai code. Excerpt from "The Book of Five Rings." Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. The Gaze in Strategy The gaze should be large and broad. This is the twofold gaze, "Perception and Sight." Perception is strong and sight, weak. In strategy, it is important to see distant things as if they were close, and to take a distanced view of close things. It is important in strategy to know the enemy's sword, yet not be distracted by insignificant movements of his sword. You must study this. The gaze is the same for single combat and for large-scale strategy. It is necessary in strategy to be able to look to both sides without moving the eyeballs. You cannot master this ability quickly. Learn what is written here; use this gaze in everyday life and do not vary it...

A century ago, when Japan was transforming itself from an isolated feudal society into a modern nation, a Japanese educator queried about the ethos of his people composed this seminal work, which with his numerous other writings in English made him the best, known Japanese writer in the West during his lifetime.

He found in Bushido, the Way of the Warrior, the sources of the virtues most admired by his people: rectitude, courage, benevolence, politeness, sincerity, honor, loyalty and self-control. His approach to his task was eclectic and far-reaching. On the one hand, he delved into the indigenous traditions, into Buddhism, Shintoism, Confucianism and the moral guidelines handed down over hundreds of years by Japan's samurai and sages. On the other hand, he sought similarities and contrasts by citing not only Western philosophers and statesmen, but also the shapers of European and American thought and civilization going back to the Romans, the Greeks and Biblical times.

Presented here in one volume are three of the seminal texts relating to the Japanese 'Way of the Samurai', essential reading for anyone interested in the Samurai culture of Japan.

'Go Rin No Sho', or 'The Book of Five Rings' is a famous text written by the swordsman Miyamoto Musashi in 1645, concerning Martial Arts, in particular Kenjitsu and the art of Zen.Miyamoto Musashi uses language that is as sharp and decisive as his sword - delivering in unfaltering steps the most direct path towards the objective - to cut down your opponent and emerge unscathed and victorious.

'Hagakure' provides a peerless view into the mindset and morality of the Japanese Samurai. Written by the Samurai Yamamoto Tsunetomo in the early 18th Century, the text illustrates the concept of 'Bushido'.

'Bushido' translates literally as 'the way of the warrior', and is the Japanese word used to describe the ancient code of the Samurai. It is a complex and chivalric code of behavior that prizes loyalty and honor above all, but also champions the qualities of dedication, frugality, and mastery of martial arts.

Fundamental to 'the Way of the Warrior', is the concept of a 'good death'. Tsunetomo urges his Samurai readers to assume themselves already dead, to completely remove the fear of death, giving them the freedom to act rapidly and decisively, regardless of whether the actions might result in their own demise.

The three books in this volume have been beautifully arranged with an interactive table of contents for ease of navigation.

CHIVALRY is a flower no less indigenous to the soil of Japan than its emblem, the cherry blossom; nor is it a dried-up specimen of an antique virtue preserved in the herbarium of our history. It is still a living object of power and beauty among us; and if it assumes no tangible shape or form, it not the less scents the moral atmosphere, and makes us aware that we are still under its potent spell.

In this eloquent work, Nitobé eloquently explains the persistence of feudal Japan's morals, ethics, and etiquette into modern times. He takes a far-reaching approach, drawing examples from indigenous traditions — Buddhism, Shintoism, Confucianism, and the philosophies of samurai and sages — as well as from ancient and modern Western thinkers.

These are the seven precepts of bushido— the code of the samurai. Together, these seven values create a system of beliefs that is unique to Japanese culture— and is still alive today.

Bushido: The Classic Portrait of Samurai Martial Culture written by Inazo Nitobe, one of Japan's foremost scholars, thoroughly explores each of these values and explains how they differ from their western counterparts. Until you understand the philosophy behind the ethics, you will never fully grasp what it meant to be a samurai—what it meant to have bushido.

First published in 1905 as Bushido: The Soul of Japan, this book is an essential guide to the very essence of samurai and Japanese cultures and represents one of the most popular and authentic depictions of samurai-era philosophy.

Chapters include: Bushido as an Ethical SystemSources of BushidoHonorThe Education and Training of a SamuraiSelf-ControlThe Influence of BushidoThe Future of Bushido and more

A century ago, when Japan was transforming itself from an isolated feudal society into a modern nation, a Japanese educator queried about the ethos of his people composed this seminal work, which with his numerous other writings in English made him the best, known Japanese writer in the West during his lifetime. He found in Bushido, the Way of the Warrior, the sources of the virtues most admired by his people: rectitude, courage, benevolence, politeness, sincerity, honor, loyalty and self-control. His approach to his task was eclectic and far-reaching. On the one hand, he delved into the indigenous traditions, into Buddhism, Shintoism, Confucianism and the moral guidelines handed down over hundreds of years by Japan's samurai and sages. On the other hand, he sought similarities and contrasts by citing not only Western philosophers and statesmen, but also the shapers of European and American thought and civilization going back to the Romans, the Greeks and Biblical times.

This book is about the transformation of Japan from a feudal to a modern society. The writer has included all the ethos and beliefs that Japan adopted in turning into a distinct nation. The writer is one of the best Japanese writers known around the world. This book is compiled with all the virtues and happenings that a man goes through and how he can adopt those values to be a better person as Japanese does.

Few books have continued their bestselling status centuries after their author's death.

Like other classics, such as the Gospels of Jesus, and Lao Tze's Tao Te Chung, there is much discussion of who actually wrote them and how.

What is important is how such books are used. Because only extremely useful books continue in demand at bookstores, especially over generations.

Wikipedia notes: The Art of War has been applied to many fields well outside of the military. Much of the text is about how to fight wars without actually having to do battle: it gives tips on how to outsmart one's opponent so that physical battle is not necessary. As such, it has found application as a training guide for many competitive endeavors that do not involve actual combat.

There are business books applying its lessons to office politics and corporate strategy. Many Japanese companies make the book required reading for their key executives.

The book is also popular among Western business management, who have turned to it for inspiration and advice on how to succeed in competitive business situations. It has also been applied to the field of education. The Art of War has been the subject of law books and legal articles on the trial process, including negotiation tactics and trial strategy.

This book is entitled A Samurai Master Class, as two additional classics, “The Book of Five Rings” and “Bushido, the Soul of Japan” have been included. No study of this period would be complete without understanding the strategies, tactics, and ethics of the Samurai.

All of us have our journey to follow. For some, we could use this persona to make our decisions more wisely, to resolve conflicts as we move though life. In this, the Art of War can become the Way of Peace. In any day and age, having an ethical code to live by, while also utilizing a strategy and tactics tool-set which has been proved over centuries of application – these seem to point out a road many can travel on their own.

This is presented as the old Japanese proverb told, “There are many paths up the mountain.”

Collected here in one edition are two of the most important books on the Samurai Way, Bushido: The Soul of Japan and The Book of Five Rings. Bushido: Chivalry is a flower no less indigenous to the soil of Japan than its emblem, the cherry blossom; nor is it a dried-up specimen of an antique virtue preserved in the herbarium of our history. It is still a living object of power and beauty among us. The Book of Five Rings: There are various Ways. There is the Way of salvation by the law of Buddha, the Way of Confucius governing the Way of learning, the Way of healing as a doctor, as a poet teaching the Way of Waka, tea, archery, and many arts and skills. Generally speaking, the Way of the warrior is resolute acceptance of death.

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